“Spearhead will again deploy in support of [Southern
Partnership Station] from June to October, to conduct
subject matter expert exchanges and build partner
capacity in a variety of disciplines, including medical,
construction, dive operations and law enforcement,”
he said.

In the U.S. Fifth Fleet AOR, USNS Choctaw County
will be used as a training platform for missions
to include maritime interdiction operations, mine
countermeasures and training of aircraft squadrons.

“Choctaw County is a new platform for Fifth Fleet
that has provided us with added capacity and mission
versatility now that will continue to pay dividends in the
years to come. Here in Fifth Fleet, the ship falls under
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command’s logistics task
force, TF 53, where it is currently providing quick inter-theater lift to move cargo and aircraft simultaneously,”
said Fifth Fleet Media Officer Lt. Ian McConnaughey.
“Her ability to embark personnel also allows her to be
used as a significant C2 [command and control] platform for a variety of missions.”

Designed for Flexibility

EPF is showing its versatility by utilizing the same
basic platform to perform different missions for different combatant commanders in different parts of the
world, depending on the fleet requirements.

Designed for flexibility with extra room makes EPFeasier to build, maintain and update. The tendency isto build compact ships to keep the initial acquisitioncost down. But according to Dave Forster, directorof strategy and business development with GeneralDynamics Mission Systems, the systems integrator forEPF and the Independence variant of the littoral com-bat ship, “Why constrain yourself? A more compactship is more expensive to design and build. A moreEPF has a network that enables new systems tobe plugged into the ship’s information backbone toquickly give it a new primary or secondary mission.

“The total ship computing environment allows you
to support the kinds of missions you would want to put
on a platform with EPFs attributes,” Forster said.

EPF can accommodate a detachment of unmanned
aircraft, such as ScanEagle or Puma, and has a helicopter
deck that can land a CH-53E. Containerized ISR equipment can be installed on the ship, and foundations for
mounting antennas can be installed to give each ship the
ability to receive ISR sensors, and then be taken off one
ship and moved to another as required, a concept proven
aboard Choctaw County and Trenton. EPF also has the
network and empty electronics racks to bring capability
packages aboard to plug in equipment, and six power
stations built into the vehicle deck to plug in modules.

While EPF does not replace combatants or provide
the capability of amphibious ships, it can assume some
tasks that would otherwise be performed by much
larger and more valuable platforms.

“You don’t want to tie up a billion-dollar com-batant or amphibious ship when you can perform thesame mission with a far less expensive platform anda small crew,” said Larry Ryder, director of customerrelations with Austal USA, the EPF prime contractor.

“For example, the EPF has been extremely successfulin leading theater engagement exercises freeing up DDGs[destroyers] and amphibs for higher-end missions. Inmany cases, the EPF is a more suitable platform to leadthese activities due to the access enabled by its shallowRep. Bradley Byrne, R-Ala., who represents the districtwhere the EPF is built, said that the vessels are effectivelyfilling critical roles for all combatant commanders.

“The stated requirement for the number of these
ships is 18, but to this point eight have been delivered
and another four are under contract. The Department
of Defense places a premium on the ability of U.S.
military forces to deploy quickly to a full spectrum of
engagements. The EPF has demonstrated the ability to
effectively support these needs and more,” he said. n

U.S.NAVYCargo is moved into the mission bay aboard USNS Spearhead in supportof Continuing Promise 2017’s end of operations in Trujillo, Honduras,March 5. Spearhead provided logistical support to Continuing Promise,which brought vital medical assistance to nearly 14,700 patients inGuatemala, Honduras and Colombia, as well as ferrying donated medicalsupplies and cargo for the mission.